Verdicts and Settlements

$60.9 Million Verdict for Brain-Injured Baby

Led by partner Deborah J. Gander, the firm in 2005 obtained $60.9 million in injury compensation, the largest amount ever awarded in a Federal Tort Claims Act case in the country. Federal Judge Jose A. Gonzalez found the Obstetrics Clinic in Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida, liable for medical negligence in the delivery of a brain-injured baby.

Our class action team achieved a $100 million settlement from Service Corporation International (SCI), a national funeral company, and its subsidiary, Menorah Gardens Cemetery. The case alleged that the companies buried families in the wrong graves, and the company agreed to compensate for the families’ grievances and provide in-kind services.

Lion Air Flight 610 Update: Investigators Release Preliminary Crash ReportOn October 29, 2018, a Lion Air flight traveling from Jakarta, Indonesia to Pangkal Pinang crashed into the Java Sea after experiencing a flight control problem minutes after departure. There were no survivors. The Republic of Indonesia’s Komite Nasional Keselamatan Transportasi (KNKT) recently published a preliminary report about Lion Air ...

NHTSA Investigates General Motors Over Faulty Braking SystemAccording to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), more than 2.7 million General Motors (GM) vehicles could be affected by deteriorating brake assist vacuum pumps. After receiving 111 complaints about 2014, 2015 and 2016 truck and SUV models, NHTSA has launched an ...

Marriott Discloses 500 Million Guests Affected by Starwood’s Database HackAccording to Marriott’s press release, Starwood’s guest reservation database was hacked. On September 8, 2018, Marriott International received an internal alert about an unauthorized user attempting to access the Starwood guest reservation database. Since then, investigators found copied and encrypted information from an authorized user. ...

Practice Area Blog

What Is the Difference Between Criminal and Civil Cases?

In the video found below, injury lawyer Julie Braman Kane explains that while a judgment for a civil case may result in the defendant owing compensation to the other party injured by his or her negligent actions, a criminal case can end in the defendant going to jail. Our litigation lawyers have experience pursing civil litigation as well as white collar cases. If you need assistance after suffering injuries due to the careless actions of another or are under investigation for SEC insider trading, speak with our firm to learn how we may be able to provide experienced legal representation.

Video Transcription:

A criminal case and a civil case are very different. A criminal case is prosecuted by the state or by the federal government. The end result of a criminal case is that the person who did something wrong, that violates a criminal statute in their state or in their country, can go to prison. In a civil case, the issue is negligence, where someone did something wrong, maybe it wasn’t a statutory violation, maybe they were just looking the wrong way or took a misstep, but they weren’t doing what they were supposed to do and it harmed someone else.

In a civil case, you bring a lawsuit. The end result of that case is about money, about compensating the person who has harmed. A civil case is about compensating the person who was injured by the person who was negligent. So at the end of the day, that’s about money, not jail. So civil and criminal are very different. With regard to injuries, the lawyers at Colson Hicks Eidson handle civil cases. We also handle criminal white collar cases, but that’s in a different context.

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(*) Disclaimer: All verdicts and settlements listed here are gross amounts before deductions for attorney fees and costs. Past results do not guarantee similar results in the future. Most cases result in a lower recovery. It should not be assumed that your case will have as beneficial a result.